The Atlanta Hawks dumped 2024's first overall NBA Draft pick, Zaccharie Risacher, in a three-team trade with the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder. While his career is looking bleak, the Spurs landed the best player in that draft class.
By every metric, the San Antonio Spurs got the best player in two straight NBA Drafts. In 2023, they took Victor Wembanyama first overall, and no one comes close to his talent.
The next season, they snagged Stephon Castle fourth overall, after Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, and Reed Sheppard were all picked. Castle ranks first in points in the 2024 draft class and is top-ten in assists, rebounds, and win shares.
Heading into the 2024 draft, the class was deemed weaker than most. Risacher, despite going number one, was never expected to be a superstar player. Even with the low expectations, his career has been disappointing, and the Hawks traded him in a three-team deal with the OKC Thunder and Dallas Mavericks for Lu Dort and Ryan Nembhard.
NBA Trade Proves Stephon Castle Is Top Dog
The 2024 draft was not headlined by elite talent. Teams were still high on Wembanyama, who just wrapped up a dominant rookie season, and were looking for the next game-breaking big. Sarr seemed like the best bet and was the consensus top pick for several months.
However, his limitations were clear, and he ended up falling in favor of Risacher, who, at the very worst, seemed poised to be an elite sharpshooter.
In two NBA seasons, he has averaged just 11.1 points and shot only 36 percent from deep. Not putrid, but also not anywhere close to the standard top picks are held to.
Sarr, meanwhile, has been decent but is still very raw. The same could be said of Sheppard. Castle, meanwhile, is one of the better two-way guards in the NBA and was pivotal to the Spurs' run to the Finals.
So why did he fall to fourth? Great question.
Coming out of UConn, Castle had all of the tools to succeed in the NBA. He's big and strong, a disciplined defender, and was coming off a national title season under Dan Hurley. Granted, his offense--especially his shooting--lagged behind the rest of his game, but at worst, he would be an All-Defensive-worthy lead guard.
He's been so much better, and alongside Wembanyama and Dylan Harper, is an integral part of the best young core in the entire league.
As the Spurs build a powerhouse, luck has been a factor. They lucked into the first and second overall picks in 2023 and 2025, but three teams passed on Castle in 2024. It's also not feasible that, had the Spurs passed on him fourth, he still would have been on the board with the eighth pick, when the Spurs got to make another selection.
Would the Pistons, who had both Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, select Castle? Or the Hornets, who already had LaMelo Ball in the backcourt? What about the Blazers, who were all-in on Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson?
The Spurs needed a lead guard, and they happened to get the best player in the entire draft class. While the Hawks gave up on Risacher after just one season, Castle's All-Star leap is just around the corner.
